Kitchen scissors



Sept. 27, 1938. A. voss 2,131,395

KITCHEN SCISSORS File ad Jan. 27, 1957 f ATTORNEY. f

Patented Seph27, 1938 t UNITED STATES xrronmv sorssolts] .j -A rthurvoss, Yonkers, N. Y., assignorv to Grsef I & Schmidhlne New York, N. 'X., a corporation of New York Application January '27. 1931, sci-n1 No; 122,434 I This invention has for its object to provide a suitable scissors o r shears of sufficient strength combined with devices which will enable the scissors to be used for kitchen use "and other utility, such as a cap-lifterand jar opener. v t

The invention consists in having a section of the handle portions of the scissors flared inisuch manner that they may be applied to any size cap or bottle top, or jar or like receptacle, and such flared portions will thereby serve as a grip toenclose or clamp the cap or top of a bottle or like receptacle by a lever action which will instantly and effectively remove the same. 'I'hese flared portions are also provided wit h'members which engage the cap or top closure so that bya lever action of the scissors as a whole, the cap or closure may be removed. My improved shears also embodies on an inner section of each handle portion complementary cap-engaging devices by which caps may be readily removed. An additional feature of my improvements is an extension on one of the handle portions of the shears by which it is possible to pry open lids or tops of bottles, jars and the like which usually resist the usual manual operation.

The invention will be more fully described hereinafter, an embodiment thereof shown in the drawing, and the invention will be finally pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a side view of my improved kitchen scissors or shears in closed position, showing in combination therewith, my improved cap opener and remover;

Figure 2 is a horizontal section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Figure 4 is a horizontal section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Figure 5 is a partial view of the structure shown in Fig. 1, showing a bottle-cap-opening device in extended position; and

Figure 6 is a detail view from line 2-2 of Figure 1, seen in a direction opposite to the arrows thereof.

Similar numerals refer to similar throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawing, and more particularly to Figure 1, the kitchen shears of my invention consists of the usual cutting blades l and H pivoted at l2, each of which is provided with the usual handle portions 13 and M, the finger-hold ing portions of which are designated by numerals l and IS, in well-known manner.

In distinction to kitchen shears heretofore in 'acter" l9; theradiu s o'fcurvat'ure being such that the to'p of a bottle cap and'the cap 'isthen inparts 2' Claims (01. 65-46)- use, my improved shears 'illust'rated' in Figure 1. has embodied therein, two outwardly flaring members l1 and 18, which members are positioned close to the pivoted blades 12, and are curved or flared as indicated by reference char- 5 these two flared members may beariplied over serted inthe space formed by'such flared or curved portions I1 and ll. The flaredportions I1 10 and [8 at their lower =parts'areprovided with wedge members and 21. Said wedge'memhers have parallel sides 22 and are offset from the I main body of the scissors by cut-outportions23. In consequence; these wedge member-s20 and 2|, 1' protrude sharply away .fro'm'the'bodyportion of the scissors'and are 'freetoengage' the lowermost portionof the cap skirt. 'Whenit is desired to. loosen or remove a cap the section 25 of the scissors immediately below the. pivotal point I2 is placed upon the top of a cap and the wedge 'members 20 and 2| placed below the capskirt and a lever actionapplied by moving upwardly the handles I3 and "H with the shear portions]! and I I moved downwardly in respect to the bottle cap, by which operation thebottle cap is readily removed due to the lever action, the small arm or shorter portions being near the cap and the handles l3 and I4, constituting the longer arm of the, lever portions extendingconsiderably outw wardly from the cap so that a slight force in an upward direction applied" to the handlesof the shears will influence the force exerted at the bottle cap and effect removal ofthe same'with ease. From the drawing, it is seenthat each blade l0 and II is provided-with a projection 25 on thehandle side of the pivot II, which has a contour transverse to the median line of the scissors. These projections 25, when the handles are separated opening thejscissor blades, and when the scissors areapplied to act as a 'cap opener, rest on the top of the cap. v r I In cases in whichthe cap is' larger than the I opener provided by a usualv scissorsas shown in Fig. 1,-the handles l3 and It may be spread sufilcientlyfrom one another and then theenlarged space designated by 26 is utilized to enable, the wedge portions 20 and 2| to grip the same 7 side of; the capto be removed. This enables the" removal ofan unusually large size cap. The

I parallel sides 20 and 2 I are so arranged that they maybe entered belowthe'cap skirt and thereby obtain a good grip and the use of handlesl3 I and i l by leveraction creates considerable force to facilitate removal of the ca since they do not respond to turning operation by hand. My invention includes a new device by which such caps are readily removed, andconsists of serrated portions 21 positioned along the intermediate handle portions 28 and 29. It will be noted that these serrated portions are arranged -in circular shape and a slight opening of the handle portions permits the opening of a large size can by the proper functioning of these complementary serrated portions 28 and 2M An additional feature of my improved shearswill be seen in handle I3, which is provided with an extension 30 capable of use to pry open lids and the like on various sizes of cans.

It will be seen that my improved shears in construction resemble very closely the ordinary scissors or shears and has in combination therewith my new cap opener made up of wedge members 20 and 2 l, the combination of which does not ma teriallychange the new construction from that of anfordinary shearswhichis due to the fact that the bottle cap opening device is positioned close to the pivoted portionsand due to the feature of outwardly flared portions the device is arranged in alignment with the longitudinal ,line of the scissors proper.

The improved scissors hasthe wedge members 20 and 2| disposed centrallylof theflared portions IQ of the handlesso' that the device may be applied to a bottle cap-from either or both of its sides. ,Thisfacilitates the handling of the device in the removal of bottle caps. 1

It will also be noted that the wedge members 20 and 2|, ,form with the innermost portionsof the blades, diametrically opposite to the wedge members, a substantially diagonal holding device, which either in the position shown in Fig. 1, for the size of a screwcap corresponding thereto,

or in the variable position shown in Fig. 5, for

be made within the invention described withoutdeparting from the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In a kitchen utensil, a pair of matched members pivoted to-each other by a pivot shaft transverse to thelength of the members, and reversed in respect to a median line passing through the pivot shaft, each member having a handle portion, and each member having disposed between thepivot shaft and its handle portion close to the pivot shaft a section having a contour extendingtransverse to the length of said member, a reentrant curved portion bulging outwardly of said median line and merging with said contour, and terminating close to said median line, and a wedge-shaped lug at .the said termination and projecting from said curved portion towards said pivot shaft, whereby when the utensil is applied to a bottle cap, the transverse section resting upon the cap acts as a fulcrum, and the wedgeshaped lugs engaging below the skirt of the cap,

an upward pull on the handle portions enables the cap tobe removed by lever action, the open ablehandle portions adapting said utensil tothe removal of different sized caps.

2. A kitchen utensil as defined in claim 1, in which the lugs project from said curved portion midway of its depth.

. ARTHUR VOSS. 

